NEW: Donna Summer's Manasota Key home sells for $2.85 million

The residence, which includes 200 feet along the Gulf of Mexico, originally was listed for $3.2 million. It was on the market for 71 days.

By JOHN HIELSCHER

The Manasota Key home of the late disco queen Donna Summer just sold for $2.85 million.

The residence, which includes 200 feet along the Gulf of Mexico, originally was listed for $3.2 million. It was on the market for 71 days before going under contract in February.

Summer, a multimillion-selling singer and songwriter who rose to fame in the 1970s disco era, had owned the property as her second home since September 2007. She died of lung cancer at age 63 last May in Naples.

The buyers are Detlev von Platen, the president and chief executive officer of Porsche Cars North America Inc., based in Atlanta, and his wife.

They were unaware the estate had belonged to Summer, said Maryann Casey, an agent with the Englewood office of Michael Saunders & Co., who represented them.

They saw the home on the Saunders website while waiting in Atlanta for a flight to Sarasota, Casey said.

"This was the couple's first visit to Manasota Key, and they immediately fell in love with both the home and the key, and bought the property in less than 24 hours," she said.

Once owned by country singer Mel Tillis, the four-bedroom, four-bath Old Florida home was built in 1950. The 1.1-acre property is in a private, gated enclave on North Manasota Beach Road with both Gulf and bay access.

The 3,786-square-foot house, which has undergone numerous updates, includes exposed-beam ceilings, a covered veranda across the east side, and an open patio overlooking a pool. A boat house and dock also are on the east side.

Nelda Thompson & Associates in Englewood listed the property.

Summer -- whose hits included "Love to Love You, Baby," "Bad Girls," "Hot Stuff" and "Last Dance" -- will be posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Thursday.